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. 'E. ARNOLD.

MEANS FOR RAISING- SUNKEN VESSELS. No. 526,959. Patented Oct. 2, 1894.

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"m: "cams PETERS 00.. mm'au'mo WASHINGTON, o C.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD M. ARNOLD, or 'PAWTUCKE'I, RHODE ISLAND.

MEANS FOR RAIHSIN'EG su EN VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 526,959, dated October2, 18 94. Applioation filetlNewman-4,1293. Serial No. 489,988. (Nomodel.)

To all whom itmay concern: I

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. ARNOLD,

of Pawtucket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locat ing andMaking Fast to Sunken Vessels, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact.

in such cases the passengers are lost beyond hope of recovery, but myinvention has in view the locating and recovering of such eves:

sel, and has also in view the saving of certain imperishable portions ofthe cargo.

The object of my invention, as before indicated, is to provide means forthe recovery of lost vessels, and also to construct a very simple andefficient apparatus which may becarried by a vessel and used inconnection with sunkenvessels, and by which the position of the sunkenvessel may be readily ascertained and steps taken to raise the same.

A further object of my invention is-to provide a simple means for makingfast to a' sunken vessel when it is located, to the end that ordinaryappliances may be' conveniently used for lifting the vessel.

The invention consists in the particular construction and combination ofparts as hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a view showing a sunken vessel provided with a portion of myimproved apparatus, which portion is intended to lead to theidentification and locating of the vessel. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailview, showing the manner in which a grapple islowered and made fast tothe vessel. Fig. 3 is a similar view, but shows the grapple inengagement with a button carried by the vessel. Fig.4

is an enlarged detail sectional view of the grapple and button inconnection; and Fig. 5 is a sectional plan on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

The vessel 10 has secured to it, as shown at 11, a cable 12, which ispreferably achain,

of'the cable 12andwhich is adapted to be carried in. a convenient coilon the deck or other part of the vesselyand is of sufficient length toreach to the surface of-the water when the vessel is lying at the bottomof the sea; and to enable it to be at once known how deep the water isat the point where the vessel lies or the distance from the vessel tothe a point where the buoy floats, the cable is provided with buttons 15or other equivalent devices, which are marked regularly to indicate thelength in fathoms of the cable; The cable has secured to its free end abuoy 16, which is of sufficient size and buoyancy to-support the weightof the cable when the buoy is floating, andthe buoy is preferablyprovided with an eye17 at the top to enable it to be conveniently pickedup; and it should also have painted or otherwise marked thereon the nameof the vessel to which it is attached, so that when the buoy is found itmay be at once known what vessel lies in its vicinity. The vessel ispreferably provided with a sort of cage 17 inwhich the coiled cable 14and the buoy 17 may lie, and thus thebuoy is free to rise to the surfaceof the water when the vessel sinks. If the vessel is a large one two ormore cables and buoys are preferably secn red 'to it. at differentpoints.

In connection with the-apparatus above described a grapple 18 is used,which is provided with a head 19 having a longitudinal bore 19*, and thehead is slotted, as shown at 20, so as to form a sort of bail to which ahawser or cable 21 may besecured, although the cable may be attached inany convenient manner. The grapple head is also provided with eye bolts20 to which cables may be secured, and any suitable hoisting tackle maybe fastened to IOC the grapple, instead of using the hawser 21.

The lower end of the head 19 is recessed around its outer edge, as shownat 22, andin these recesses are hung pivotally the grappling arms 23which terminate at their lower ends and inner sides in hooks 24, whichare adapted to engage the under side of the button 13, as shown in Fig.4, and in order that the hooks may readily slide over the button theyare rounded on their under sides, as shown in the figure referred to.The top of the head 19 is provided with a hole or bore 14E to receivethe cable 14 which acts as a guide cable as described presently, andwhen the head 19 is threaded upon the cable 14 so that the said cablepasses through the bore 19 and hole 14, the grapple may be dropped toplace, and as it slides down the cable, will automatically engage thebutton 13. To enable the arms of the grapple to be released whendesired,a releasing line 25 is used,which lies parallel with the cableor hawser 21, and

the line, at its lower end, is provided with branches 26 which passthrough keepers 27 on the head 19 and are secured to the outer sides andlower ends of the hooked arms 23.

The apparatus is used in the following way:

When the vessel sinks, the buoy 16 rises to the surface, and if thewater is not very deep it will naturally drift to some little distancefrom a point vertically above the vessel, and when the buoy is locatedby a passing ship it is picked up and the cable Mis taken in until itassumes a vertical position, then the buoy 16 is removed from the cable14, the grapple 18 which is carried on board of the vessel which findsthe sunken one, is threaded upon the cable 14 and permitted to dropuntil the hooks on the grapple slide over the button 13 and engage theedge of the latter, after which the hawser 21 is drawn taut and a firmconnection is established between the floating ship and the one on thesea bottom. The connection being established, as specified, the ordinarysteps may then be taken to raise the sunken vessel, and if, for anyreason,it is desired to release the grapple, it may be done by pullingupward on the releasing line 25 which causes the arms 23 of the grapplehooks to swing outward so that the hooks will be clear of the button 13.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a cable adapted to besecured to a sunken vessel and provided with a button at its lower end,of a grapple, comprising a head provided with a longitudinal opening forthe passage of the cable and with a transverseopening to form a sort ofa bail, and hooks pivoted to the lower end of the said head,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a cable adapted to be secured to a sunken vessel,a button having a convex upper surface and a concave lower surface, andto the upper-and lowersurfaces of which the said cable is attached, anda grapple, comprising ahead having a longitudinal openingfor the passageof the cable and provided at its lower end with pivoted hooks,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a cable adapted to be secured to a sunkenvessel, and provided with a buttonat its lower end, of a grapple fittedto slide on the cable and provided with hooks for engaging the button,and a releasing line secured to the said lower ends of the hooks, andpassed through guides on the body of the grapple substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination with a vessel, and a cable secured to the vessel andhaving a buoy at its upper end and a button at its lower end,

of a grapple comprising a head apertured for the passage of the cableand hookspivoted to the lower end of the head for engaging the button,substantially as herein shown and described.

EDWARD M. ARNOLD.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES L. J ENKS, ABRAM C. MONFORT.

